SEO copy is just good copy with a job to do: getting found by someone who types a question into Google or ChatGPT. There are a few fixed steps for that. Below you'll read how to write a text like that: the question behind the search, the right keywords, the headings, the structure and the technical side around it.
What is SEO copy?
SEO copy is a text written to be found in search engines and to help the reader. Putting keywords in the text is only a small part of that. The biggest part is answering a specific search so clearly that Google is confident enough to show the page and the visitor keeps reading.
SEO copy is one part of SEO as a whole. Technical setup and links make sure Google can find your page and take it seriously. Whether that page also answers the searcher's question depends on the copy.
Write for the question behind the search
You ask the most important question before you type a word: what does someone who searches this actually want? That's called search intent. A text that doesn't match it misses its goal, however well it's written. Google also looks at how searchers react to a result, and that counts too.
The four types of search intent
Roughly, someone searches for one of four reasons:
- Informational: someone wants knowledge or an explanation, like "what is SEO copy".
- Navigational: someone is looking for a specific site or brand, like a login page.
- Commercial: someone is comparing options before buying, like "hire someone to write SEO copy".
- Transactional: someone wants to buy or do something right away, like requesting a quote.
A sales page that wants to rank for an informational search clashes with what the searcher wants: they're looking for an explanation, not an offer. So decide first which of the four your page serves, and write for that.
Regular copy versus SEO copy
You often write regular copy from your own point of view: this is what I want to tell. With SEO copy you start with the reader: what are they searching for, why, and what should they be able to do next? Your message can stay exactly the same. Only the way in is different.
The shortest summary
Write the answer the searcher was looking for, better than whoever ranks at the top now. The rest of this article is about how to go about it.
One topic per page, or you compete with yourself
Give every page one job: one main topic with one search intent. As soon as two pages target the same search, you start competing with yourself. Google doesn't know which one to show, and often both drop. That's called cannibalization.
One topic per page also makes your internal links logical: every page has a clear place, and pages on related topics reinforce each other into a connected cluster. If you want to be found in your own region, that's a separate page with its own search intent. How to go about that is in the article on local SEO.
Your keywords come from your customers
The words you use as a specialist are rarely the words your customer types. You say “facade renovation,” your customer searches for “repair exterior wall.” If you only write in your own language, you write past your audience.
How to approach keyword research
Start with what people actually type and ask. Good places to look:
- The search suggestions and the "people also search for" box at the bottom of Google.
- The questions customers ask you by email or phone.
- The words that reviews and forum posts about your topic are written in.
- A keyword tool for search volume, so you know which term is used the most.
Choose one main term per page and a handful of variants that cover the same intent. Don't push ten separate keywords into one text: it reads stiffly and it doesn't help you.
Related terms give Google context
Every topic comes with a field of words around it. For “seo copy” that includes terms like copywriting, content, keywords, ranking and organic traffic. If you explain the topic well, those words show up on their own, and a search engine understands faster what your page is about.
Write headings that promise something
A heading that only names the topic tells the reader very little. “Approach” says nothing. “How to know within a week whether your copy works” says what the reader gets out of it. A good heading is a claim: it promises something, and the paragraph below makes it true.
That helps both ways. Readers scan your headings and see right away whether it's worth their time. And search engines read your heading structure to understand what the page has to offer. So write your headings as if someone will read only those.
Make your copy easy to scan
Short paragraphs, subheadings and white space
Nobody reads a wall of text, especially not on a phone. Chop your story into chunks: short paragraphs, plenty of subheadings and white space between the blocks. Don't count words while you do it. A paragraph is long enough when it holds one thought.
Short sentences help too, as long as you mix them with a longer one. Otherwise the rhythm goes flat, and a visitor who loses the flow drops off sooner.
Put your jargon in plain words right away
Jargon pushes readers away. If you use a term, put it in plain words right away. “Core Web Vitals” becomes: how fast and stable your page loads, according to Google. And with “crawlability,” the question is whether a search engine can read your page at all.
The term can stay, for the people who know it and search for it. But the meaning comes first. That way your neighbor understands it, and your neighbor is more often your customer than a fellow specialist.
E-E-A-T: prove that you know what you're writing about
Google tries to weigh whether it can trust a source, and sums that up as E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. It comes down to showing that you know what you're talking about.
You do that with examples from your own work and details only an insider knows. Add an author byline with a name and a face, and point to what you did or measured yourself. A piece like that is also more likely to be linked to by others, and that strengthens your authority in turn. Never make up numbers or studies to seem credible. Readers see through that, and then you've lost exactly the trust you wanted to win.
What AI copy can and can't do
Yes, ChatGPT and similar tools write a smooth text in seconds. As a tool for research, a rough draft or a push when you're stuck, they're fine. I use them myself.
But an AI doesn't know your customers and doesn't know what works on your site. If you ask a model for SEO copy, it averages out what's already online. You get a tidy text you could swap with the ten pages that already rank at the top. What's missing is exactly what only you can add: your own experience, your opinion and examples from your work.
So by all means let AI make a first draft, and fill in the examples, the choices and the conclusion yourself. How AI search engines weigh your content is changing fast, but a text that only repeats what's already online gives them little reason to name you in particular.
If you wrote a text with AI, check it against the ten signs in my article on spotting and rewriting AI writing. The free AI checker underlines the sentences that still sound like AI.
The technical side that belongs in every text
A text isn't finished until the technical side around it is right. This is part of every page.
Meta title and meta description
The meta title and meta description are what someone sees in the search results: the blue title and the line under it. They help decide whether someone clicks through. Write the title as a clear promise with your main term in it, and the description as an invitation, not a summary. The meta description doesn't count toward your ranking. If more people click through, you get more visitors from the same spot in Google.
Heading structure, internal links and alt text
Under the hood you set up a logical heading structure (one H1, with H2s and H3s below it), internal links to related pages and alt text that describes what's in an image. It's a small job, and it makes your page easier to read for visitors and search engines. What lies beneath that, like load speed and indexing, falls under technical SEO.
How long should SEO copy be?
There's no magic word count. The length follows from the search intent and from what ranks at the top now. A product page often needs only a few hundred words, a service or landing page usually needs more explanation, and a blog post that goes deep on a topic naturally gets longer. Look at the top of the results and answer the question more completely than those pages, instead of chasing more words.
Write it yourself or have it written?
You can do this fine yourself. The principles above can be learned, and for many business owners, their own copy with a good structure is already a big step forward. If you're unsure about outsourcing, this comparison of doing it yourself and outsourcing helps you decide.
Where writing it yourself often stalls is the measuring. Most business owners manage to put a text online. Seeing whether it brings in visitors, and adjusting it if it doesn't, takes far more time. That's why I write copy within the Vizibly System. In it, I measure every month which pages bring in visitors and which fall behind, and I adjust any text that falls behind.
I don't sell result guarantees or link packages. What's fixed is the way of working, and in your own dashboard you see every month what your copy does. What it costs, you can read up front on the pricing page.
First see how your page is doing now
The free SEO checker shows where your page is strong and where it leaves points on the table, with a list of what you can fix right away. Want me to measure and refine your copy every month? Then request a proposal.
CHECK YOUR SEO FOR FREEFrequently asked questions about SEO copy
What is SEO copy?
SEO copy is a text written to be found in search engines and to help the reader. It answers a specific search so clearly that Google wants to show the page and the visitor keeps reading. Keywords are only a small part of that.
What are good SEO words?
Good SEO words are the terms your audience types themselves, and those are often different from the jargon you use. They fit the search intent and sit naturally in your text, together with related words that give context. You find them in Google's search suggestions, in customer questions and in reviews.
Can ChatGPT write SEO copy?
ChatGPT writes smoothly and is handy for research and a first draft. Without your knowledge and measurement data, though, it averages out what's already online, and then your text looks like everyone else's. Use it as a tool and fill in the examples and choices yourself.
What is the 80/20 rule for SEO?
The 80/20 rule is a rule of thumb, not a Google law: about eighty percent of your results come from twenty percent of your work. For SEO it means putting your energy into the basics first (search intent, strong content, healthy technical setup) instead of dozens of small details that bring in little.
How long should SEO copy be?
There's no fixed word count. The right length follows from the search intent and from what ranks at the top now. A product page often needs only a few hundred words, a blog post that goes deep on a topic quite a bit more. Answer the question more completely than the competition, and don't count words.
